What Must I Do to be Saved? - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

What Must I Do to be Saved?. Brian Keating May 15, 2010. Introduction. In my view, one of the most important theological questions, in all of Christianity, is as follows: What, exactly, do we need to do , in order to be saved?

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What Must I Do to be Saved?

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The most common doctrine about salvation, in mainstream Protestant churches, is the doctrine of “eternal security”. According to this doctrine, all that is required for a person to be saved is as follows:

Make a single “statement of faith” in Jesus.

Basically, according to this doctrine, all that a person need to do to be saved is to accept Jesus as his Lord, and believe that God raised him from the dead. This statement of faith is usually referred to as the “sinner’s prayer”.

This doctrine also states that once a person makes a statement of faith, he immediately – and irrevocably – becomes a child of God. As a result, this doctrine claims that once a person has made a statement of faith, he is guaranteed to be saved – no matter what he does after that time.

The eternal security doctrine is frequently referred to as “once saved, always saved”.

First, according to that doctrine, all that is required to be saved is faith in Jesus – our actions (i.e., our “works”) do not matter at all. As a result, that doctrine claims that everyone who has made a statement of faith will be saved – regardless of how anyone behaves afterwards.

For example, consider the following case: John Smith was a notorious adulterer for many years. Then, at one moment in his life, he made a sincere statement of faith in Jesus. After that, he began to commit adultery even more frequently than he did before – and he kept up that sinful behavior for the rest of his life.

According to this doctrine, John Smith will be saved – simply because he made a single statement of faith. Basically, this doctrine claims that our actions have absolutely nothing to do with salvation.

The eternal security doctrine also claims that a statement of faith permanently guarantees salvation.

In other words, that doctrine states that once a person has made a statement of faith, he will automatically be saved – even if that person explicitly rejects Jesus, after his statement of faith.

For example, consider the following case: Paul Jones was raised as an atheist. Then, at one point in his life, he made a sincere statement of faith in Jesus. One week after that, Paul explicitly rejected Jesus – that is, he made a deliberate, conscious decision that he did not believe in God or Jesus any longer.

According to the eternal security doctrine, Paul Jones will be saved – simply because he made a single statement of faith in Jesus. Basically, according to that doctrine, it is not necessary for a person to “maintain” his faith at all, in order to be saved.

Acts chapter 16 contains the account of the Philippian jailer. This man was ordered to guard the apostles Paul and Silas in his jail; but God caused a huge earthquake to free them. The jailer’s reaction is as follows:

Acts 16:29-31 (ESV):

29And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. 30Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”31And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.“

This passage certainly seems to indicate that all that is required for salvation is belief in Jesus – i.e., it seems to state that our actions don’t matter at all.

The passages on the last few slides certainly seem to support the doctrine of eternal security.

However, it is very easy to “pick and choose” specific verses from Scripture, and then make sweeping generalizations from them. (It is possible to justify almost any concept with that “pick and choose” method.)

So, in my view, it is necessary to see what the entire Bible has to say about salvation for Christians – before assuming that the eternal security doctrine is correct.

Matthew 25:31-46 contains the famous “sheep and goats” judgment. In this passage, Jesus divides up people into two different groups – with one group (the “sheep”) being saved, and the other group (the “goats”) being condemned:

Matthew 25:34-36,41-43,46 (ESV):

34Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.'

41"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.'46And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

This passage explicitly states that our actions do have an effect on our salvation – in fact, it states that our actions indicate whether we will be saved or not!

In Matthew chapter 24, Jesus describes the persecutions that Christians will face, during the “last days” of this current age:

Matthew 24:9-13 (ESV):

9"Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. 10And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. 11And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. 12And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. 13But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

In the above passage, Jesus explicitly states that Christians will only be saved if they “endure until the end”.

That indicates to me that it is absolutely necessary for us to maintain our faith, in order to be saved – i.e., true faith is not just a “one time event”.

The passages from Jesus on the last few slides are very explicit – they state that our actions do have an effect on our salvation; and that it is necessary for us to maintain our faith in order to be saved. As a result, Jesus’ statements contradict the eternal security doctrine.

Most churches that believe in that doctrine try to “explain away” Jesus’ statements, by using another doctrine called “dispensationalism”.

Basically, dispensationalism divides up human history into many different “periods of time”, or “dispensations”. In addition, that doctrine claims that Jesus lived on the earth during a different dispensation than the one that we are currently living in. Finally, that doctrine claims that entire process of salvation completely changed, when the current dispensation began.

As a result, the dispensationalism doctrine makes the following, astounding claim:

The statements that Christ made about salvation do not apply to Christians!

I strongly disagree with the above claim. First, Jesus tells us that heaven and earth will pass away, but his words will never pass away. Also, the apostle Paul explicitly states that if anyone does not obey the words of Christ, then that person is conceited and does not understand anything!

As noted on the last slide, I do not believe in the dispensationalism doctrine at all, because the entire focus of the New Testament is about following Jesus – and how can we follow him if we do not listen to his words?

Nevertheless, just for the “sake of the argument”, let’s assume that dispensationalism is correct. If so, that means that salvation for Christians is defined in the epistles – i.e., the letters that the apostles wrote in the New Testament.

So, let’s take a look at what some of the other apostles (besides Paul) wrote, in their letters – to see if the other apostles agree with the doctrine of eternal security.

After all, if eternal security is correct, then certainly all of the apostles should be in agreement about it.

A very important point to note is that we can not “earn” our salvation. In other words, our actions – by themselves – will never allow anyone to be saved – no matter how good we are.

This is because every single human being has sinned at one point or another – and therefore, all of us are worthy of death. For example, Paul explicitly tells us that “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” He also states “There is no one righteous, not even one.”

As a result, in order for us to be saved, we must have faith in Jesus. Scripture is very clear about this.

Most notably, Jesus himself tells us: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Peter echoes that statement by saying “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men, by which we must be saved.” Finally, at the end of his gospel, John tells us: “These things are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”